A New Era Vintage Vices
by A.W. LeMonte
Summary: The Justice League has fallen with only one member left standing. Gotham is rife with crime and now, a ruthless assassin trained by Deathstroke has come to prominence on the international scale. This coupled with a new hell bent madman has Bruce and Terry on their toes. Bruce now greatly aged, Terry must find how to stop both threats before one or both kill him.
1. Prologue

_**Disclaimer/AN: I own nothing of Teen Titans or Batman Beyond all characters, locations, etc. belong to the proper copyright holders. Characters and locations that are my own will be included in this fanfic and I hold the rights to these said characters as well authority in the use of them. Also, this is going to be set in two different times (well three if you count the prologue) the first being the time of the Teen Titans animated series and the second, Batman Beyond but they all feature my own characters who lives through both timelines. However, this won't focus on one or the other. The story in its two separate arcs will deal with both respectively and time will tell what people think of it. **_

Prologue

**Thirty Years Ago**

_The car headed towards the heart of New York City's wreaking industrial district. It was the dark and into the frozen heart of winter now with Christmas only a few weeks away, there were lights strewn about city's streets however, this was in the warm and inhabited part of the city only. In the industrial district, mankind's only company was the stink of iron and steel wafting from the smokestacks of the steel mills which served as the beating heart and symbol of industry in the city. _

_The black four-door Lincoln Town Car went silently past the mills and came to a brick-faced building. The lights glowed brightly from behind white curtains on the inside. The car stopped and parked alongside the street behind a series of six different cars. Four men got out of the car with one of them being a middle aged man of about forty was wearing a fabulous black silk suit with white pinstripes. Underneath this suit was a baby blue button up shirt with dark purple tie. He walked up along with the rest of the men towards the building's entrance and entered._

_The establishment had just finished closing. Choice cuts of meat, fish, and various other forms of seafood lay behind the large glass cases. As the stench of stale blood and sweat filled the air, a fat man of about thirty came out from the back and said, "Ah, Tommy, so glad you could make it." and went towards the older man and proceeded to embrace him lightly and kiss him twice, once on each cheek. _

_The man in the pinstripe suit, who was called Tommy looked at the fatter man with a look of disdain and not wishing to deal any more with the man who stunk of booze and as far as Tommy's discriminating nostrils could tell moldy cheese, he said, "Rico, where's your grandfather and the rest of the people I've come to see?" _

"_Oh, they're all up in the house. Come with me, they've got all the pasta and fine wine that you like, everything." Rico replied and turned leading the men back to the upper apartments above the meat shop. _

_As they headed up the old wooden steps, the odor changed for the better. The sweet and savory scents and aromatic tastes of various spices and herbs came to Tommy who relished the scents and as Rico brought him and his men to a door, the sounds of laughter, music, and the clink of wine glasses made themselves known. Rico opened the door and allowed Tommy inside. Inside were five other men the oldest of them sitting at the head of the rectangular cherry wood table. Pasta steamed in a pot as well as a homemade tomato and meat sauce which sat in a copper sauce pan. Tommy took off his suit jacket and sat down at the place made for him at the table and Rico stood guard at the door. _

"_Tommy," the old man said, "It's so damn good to see you, you slick son of a bitch. My boys and I haven't seen you since your meeting with the head of the Outfit a couple of years ago. What's been going on?" _

"_Well, Artie," Tommy said after Rico poured him a glass of Montrachet, "I went all around the world, learning the tricks of the trade in terms of hotel and casino etiquette. And to that point, I'd like to talk about the Sapphire Swan before we lose ourselves in the entertainment tonight and the food makes us lazy, clouding our judgment." _

"_Whoa, whoa, Tommy," Artie replied, "Who's home are you at? Mine. I call the shot here and I say, we have a good meal, talk about business over dinner and then, if we're not too groggy, play poker till sunrise." _

_The four other men nodded in agreement and Tommy reluctantly withdrew what he said. The food was passed around and as if the scents of everything on the table weren't tantalizing enough, the taste was unforgettable. As they ate, the subject of the Sapphire Swan was brought to Tommy's attention, much to his delight. _

"_Well, gentlemen," Artie said, "Construction of our brainchild is nearly complete and if everything is accurate, leastways everything we've heard, this project of ours should bring enough cash to keep all the members of The Commission happy for a very long time." _

"_Yeah but here's the thing, Artie," Lucas Morelli said, "This Sapphire Swan…it's just been you and Tommy working on the damn thing. How are Finn, Sammy, Christopher, and I going to see any form of recognition or pay from this?" _

"_Firstly," Tommy said, "The Sapphire Swan wasn't meant for your pocketbooks. It's to keep The Commission off of our backs and let us do as we see fit. This is done by the suitcases we send to them. And don't worry about your recognition, as we've designed it, we'll all get our share of the limelight. Just please, be patient." _

"_Just think boys," Artie said, "The largest casino and resort that Gotham will ever see in its lifetime and while we cheat the players out of their money, the poor suckers they are, they're just gonna' keep coming back for more." _

_The men all laughed at this and as they drank and ate, Tommy's mind began thinking and thinking. The wine it looked to his friends seemed to cloud his judgment but the smooth velvet like liquid made his brain sharper in its processing since it made him more relaxed but never so that he dropped his guard. In the end, only he and Artie were the only ones still awake for the rest had passed out from drink and over consumption of food. _

"_Well, Artie," Tommy said, "What are we going to do with the rest of these idiots once the casino gets successfully underway?"_

"_Patience, dear boy." Artie replied, "You've scarcely wiped the blood from your teeth and yet you hunger for more. Wait until the time is right. Let them enjoy their limelight after the grand opening of the casino to the public. After they've had their fun, I know of someone who can dispatch them for us. He's the best so they say and he will aid us for the right fee which will be easy to pay, seeing as the casino will make more money than any other operation out in say Nevada."_

"_Yeah…But remember, the boys out in Vegas have a whole desert to fill with the dead." Tommy said after stretching slightly, "We gotta' be careful." _

"_Tommy, Tommy," Artie replied "They have deserts, we have steel mills, meat packing plants, trash bins. We can slice them and dice them in a thousand ways but remember, we aren't leaving a message. We're just getting rid of those who think they're entitled to the wealth that you and I have made." _

_Tommy nodded and headed out, "Well, Artie, I'll see you tomorrow." Artie smiled as old men often do and after embracing Tommy, let the man out. As Tommy headed to his car with his detail of four men, he inhaled and then exhaled the frigid air of the new morning. He got in the car and as they started the engine, he was proud. It was the first time that any of his suggestions had been taken seriously and he knew that with Artie spearheading the whole deal, he would have a secure place at the top. _

_As they pulled out of their parking spot, on a roof top roughly a block away, a man in black aimed with laser like precision at Tommy's chest. The car approached slowly closer to his position for the roads were excruciatingly slick with ice. Then the moment came, the shot rang out and as it echoed over the silence of the streets, Artie sipped his wine thinking to himself, "The Architect has fallen and now, my rise can truly begin." The squealing of the tires could be heard darting off into the distance growing fainter with each second and then the night was still again, stiller than death. _


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Her training was complete, the grueling physical and mental exertion she'd gone through seemed to last a lifetime but she knew that her teacher strove for perfection and expected nothing less from her. As we join her now, she is sitting in her hotel room looking at her first contract. The money that was to be wired to her account was indeed substantial, the equivalent of 1,249,500 U.S.D but this was subject to the stipulations that the contract be carried out to the letter. As she was looking over the contract, she received a phone call.

She got her phone and answered, "Yes?"

"Ah, Nika, are you looking at the contract?" a woman's voice asked on the other line.

"Indeed. It seems that Mr. Grant has a fear of retribution by the mob and as a result, at least from the intel you've sent me, he's hired his own team of private security to surround and be throughout the apartment complex."

"That's correct some of them are ex-SEALS so I just called to advise caution." The woman replied.

"Don't worry, Ms. Wahlgren, don't worry at all. This contract will be carried out to your specifications as promised and in return, I expect the full sum we agreed upon as soon as the reporters flood the hotel splashing the story all over the morning news."

"I know of your mentor's prowess and seeing as he recommended you, I'm hoping that you can live up to my expectations and after you've dropped off the weapon schematics at the designated drop and handed them off to the man I will send the money to your account as agreed." Wahlgren said and then after a pause said, "There is one thing, seeing as he's had notable interactions with members of the mob, I want you to stage the whole hit like it was from them and for this, I'll up the ante by at least 40,000 provided you can make it so convincing, it'll take the police a while to catch on."

"I can assure you, Ms. Wahlgren, if you wish it to look like a mob hit, then that's what it'll look like. I advise that you simply get off the phone for now, prepare yourself for tomorrow morning's news, and go about your life as you normally would. You've paid half of the fee already so I'm going to go through with this." Nika said and with this, she ended the call.

She then went to her suitcases which she'd brought with her and opened them. Inside were the weapons that her mentor had given her as gifts of passing her training and learning the philosophy and reasoning behind all that he had to teach her. The weapons were two nickel-plated SIG Sauer P226 with pearl grips bearing a skull with a rhombus beneath it. She laid them down on her bed and then looked in the other suitcase finding all of the tools that she had handpicked for the contract. She looked them over and satisfied with all her selections, put her pistols in shoulder holsters which were concealed by her black leather jacket. She then zipped up her suitcases, wrote down the address of the apartment complex where her target lived and headed out into the frigid February day.

Outside her hotel, she hailed a cab and headed to the apartment building where everything was to go down. It was a magnificent structure having a marble façade and standing one hundred seventy feet tall. She sat down on one of the public benches across the street from the building and surveyed everything. Sure enough, there were men posted at the top of the building armed with state of the art sniper rifles.

"_Okay," _she thought to herself, _"This is designed to be the ultimate test. Twelve men on the roof, there are roughly…one, two, seven men on security detail in the front of the establishment…" _she got up and walked over towards the building and after crossing the street she walked around the premises. As she did, she kept her head looking straight on but her eyes carefully looked to the side and counted steadily more and more men. Altogether, there were thirty two. Twelve on the roof, seven patrolling the gardens out front, six stationed at the parking lot in the back, and four on both sides. She made a mental note of this and as she circled the building, she noticed a door on each of the sides of the building.

She headed back to her hotel and waited for the night to come all the while thinking about her method of approach. "_Alright, there are thirty two guards all together…four doors with one of each side. It would be easier to approach from the side. I saw some of the security detail going in and out of those doors so I assume they lead to the basement of the apartment complex. Then there's the issue of security which thanks to my training shouldn't be too much of a problem but then this is one of the highest scale apartment complexes in all of New York…" _

She took a moment and sat down on her bed. She proceeded to cross her legs and she grew extremely silent. The sound of her breathing and the steady beating of her heart were all that she allowed herself to hear. She remained this way for quite some time and when she was at peace with herself, began to formulate a plan, "_I was trained to be a ghost…nothing more than a brief and lethal shadow in the dark. I must use my training to my advantage. He taught me to blend in and become as he called it, a chameleon. Yes…yes…it's slowly forming." _A smile came across her face and she opened her eyes. She went to the tools she'd brought with her: a series of flares, a fiber wire garrote, three pounds of plastic explosive, and her field suit.

"_A mob hit," _she thought to herself, "_Well the garrote would work well but then so would a bullet to the temple However, the mob, while good aren't trained to my level of infiltration and knowing how the target has a guard detail, I have to give it some more thought._"

It was three thirty in the afternoon by this point and then she thought of something. She knew the police would recognize a woman's shoe size and at the same time her contractor wished for it to look like a mob hit. She knew however it wasn't at all like the movies she'd seen from hands on experience. The mob would strike at the heart of where you felt safest and would always seem to come at the moment when you were at your weakest. Utilizing this, she knew she had several hours on her hands and so went to little Italy purchasing a man's pair of black Testoni shoes. She then headed back to her hotel and after purchasing a duffel bag from a nearby store; she went to a hardware store and purchased an ice pick. Once it was around ten o' clock, she packed the duffel bag and headed for the apartments.

It was snowing outside and the air, while cold was only cold enough for the snow to barely stick to the roads for a few minutes before melting. Nika rode the cab most of the way to her destination but demanded to be dropped off a block away. She approached dressed in her field outfit and approached one of the sides. She saw the men patrolling and crouched silently behind a garbage dumpster. She then put her plan into action. After making sure she was clear, she lit a flare and put it deep into the dumpster igniting the trash inside. She then rolled from her cover into the hedges nearby. There was a moment of silence before the alert went out that the dumpster was on fire and using the chaos of people rushing to get help, she made her way to the door, opened it, went in, and gently closed the door behind her.

The room was indeed the basement and also coincidentally served as the maintenance area where the building's janitorial workers were stationed. She moved quickly but silently along the main corridor coming to a rec room. Pressing her ear to the door, she heard nothing but the constant gurgling of a coffee pot. Noting this she thought, "_I've gotten past external security now normally I'd disable security but this is supposed to be a mob hit so no fun there but I still have to determine how many guards are in the interior of the building." _She moved swiftly and noticed that the room had a door with a brass plaque on it saying, Security. She looked at the door and noticed it had a key pad the light of which was glowing red. She looked around quickly and putting her right index finger directly under the key pad, a small two-pronged tool came out and inserted into two holes. A number of small beeps were heard and the door opened. 

Beyond the door, there was a long staircase which Nika proceeded to follow. She made it to the top slowly and came to another door which held various security monitors and computers. A woman roughly Nika's size was sitting nonchalantly in a chair with a cup of coffee watching the monitors. Nika opened the door so that the sound of the knob turning couldn't be heard and she eased the door open making it as silent as the tomb. She then closed the door in the same fashion and approached the woman only to hear some men fast approaching. "_Shit." _She thought to herself and looking for a place to hide, found a rec room for the security. Opening the door she glided inside and stood in the shadows of the dark room.

The two men came in, "Hey, Jessica," one of them said to the woman, "Word has come from upstairs that you have to shut down the main elevator to the penthouse."

"What the hell for?" Jessica asked, "Is Grant afraid that he's going to be killed in his sleep? I mean he's already has people swarming all over the place from God knows where. "

"I know it's a pain in the ass but that's what been asked of us." The man told her, "Besides, that bitch, Helen demanded that no be 'allowed in or out without my expressed permission.'" The man added this last bit by straining his voice into a high-pitched girly voice in imitation of a woman.

"Ugh. Alright but if they suddenly demand that I start them up again two minutes later, there's going to be hell to pay." Jessica replied and typed in the code to shut down elevators.

Nika saw this and as soon as the men left to resume their rounds, she came out of the rec room, got up right behind Jessica, and knocked her out of her chair. Stunned, Jessica tried to get her gun but she was seized by an arm wrapping around her neck while Nika's other hand proceeded to twist her arm. Nika took Jessica into the rec room and asked, "How many extra men are on security detail tonight?"

"I'm not telling you anything," Jessica replied. Nika twisted her arm making a distinct cracking sound, "Oooh!" Jessica was about to yell but was semi-silenced by Nika's constricting hold on her neck, "There are eight men on the lobby floor of the building with twenty or more men outside and twelve snipers on the roof." Nika made and note of it and with a swift movement slammed Jessica against a gun locker in the rec room which knocked her unconscious. Nika the proceeded to strip the woman of her clothes and tools and after doing so undressed herself quickly and slipped into Jessica's uniform. She then opened the gun locker which was empty and gently propped up Jessica's unconscious body into it. She then closed the gun locker and finding a padlock on a nearby table, locked it shut.

Nika, finished with this, folded her field uniform neatly and put it in the duffle bag. Then, she went for the computer and accessing the elevator controls she turned the elevators back on but before heading out, she accessed the security cameras in all the elevators and putting in a computer code taught to her, she was able to have the cameras loop and rerecord over previously taped footage. However, for everything to work she had to go into action now. She headed out onto the lobby and found the penthouse elevator which was located in the center of four different elevators. Two men in black suits stood on either side of it and Nika proceeded with her plan. She went back to the security room and said, "Suspicious movement on five repeat suspicious movement on five." With this the men in the lobby drew their weapons and seeing that the elevators were working, went to the elevators and went up while Nika took the penthouse elevator. Her timing was near perfect. Just before the doors opened, the camera footage began to loop. Nika got in and as the elevator began to rise, she opened the service hatch at the top and threw her duffel bag onto the top of the elevator cart and then proceeded to hoist herself up and once she was on top of the cart, she closed the service hatch.

As the cart continued to rise throughout the shaft, Nika thought to herself, "_Training all those years has perfected me. Training in the land of the midnight sun has sharpened my reflexes and built up my own skills of survival, made my mind sharper and my body more nimble. With this contract, I'll be able to stand alongside my mentor and in a few years, who knows? I may very well be his equal in skill and tactics but I can't dwell on that right now. Right now, I have to carry out the contract and follow just as is requested._"

When she reached her destination, she stayed on top of the cart for a few moments and then moved with her duffel bag in tow to a grated ledge proceeding to move along the wall and then dropped to a platform underneath her. She followed the platform to a wooden door and she opened it. She entered into the main room of a beautiful apartment which was elegantly furnished with cherry-wood bookcases and floor. The only light was cast by the glowing fireplace and Nika preferred it this way. Sticking to the shadows, she cased the place. She then took out the black Testoni shoes and put these on in place of her combat boots. She moved about going from shadow to shadow and as she did she saw each room from main room to Mr. Grant's personal bedroom. The latter of which was filled with security monitors on the main wall.

She sat down at the security console and after gloving her hands, she turns off the security. Then she goes to the living room and stashes her duffle bag underneath the sofa taking out only the ice pick. She then heads for Grant's room searching it in a precautionary effort to see if there were any weapons that he might use for self-defense. Her search turned up a Mossberg police issue shotgun under his bed and a filet knife underneath his pillow. Nika unloaded the shotgun putting the shells back in their box and placing the shotgun back under the bed. She was finally comfortable with her surroundings when she heard the dead bolt on the main door click and then the lock in the knob. She moved silently to a closet containing only a couple of suits and some shoes and here she waited quietly.

Grant came into the apartment and Nika could hear his voice, "Look, Roger, I don't care what his pleas are; first thing tomorrow morning I want the German prick gone. He has no idea how to make any true weaponry they look like shit out of an old fifties comic book. Listen to me, you fucking idiot, the reason the company is working so well is because I approve the blueprints from our competitors before they have a second chance to look them over. I don't care, find another one of your men to take the bastard's place or find yourself another job!"

Nika heard his heavy footfalls come closer and then saw him enter his room. She watched completely concealed not making a noise. He turned on the lights, and undressed revealing a man of about forty with greyish black hair who used to have muscle but after a while of letting himself go, was now insulated by a well-rounded layer of blubber in his gut with his upper torso not far behind. He headed off to his bathroom and before the water began to run, she heard a television turn on. A newscast on the day's ventures at the stock market greeted Nikas ears and she could hear water filling a large tub. She stepped out of her hiding place and left the room seeing a light coming from one of the rooms.

She goes towards the room and sees Grant in the midst of utmost peace a bottle of Smirnoff Vodka on one ledge of the bathtub and a small tray of crackers and dip on the other His eyes were closed as he chewed a piece of a cracker and the room smelled of lavender and mint. She drew her ice pick, it's long piercing tip gleaming in the light of the bathroom's lights. She then looks at the resting man who looked so calm and tranquil. She readies herself her grip on the wooden handle as tight as a vice and then she clicks her tongue. Grant's eyes slowly open and then slowly become wide open seeing the woman before him. He was about to scream when she thrust the pick through his trachea and after a second, pulls it out.

Grant clutches his throat to stop the blood which is streaming all over him and staining the water crimson. He then tries with all of his strength and succeeds in getting out of the bathtub crawling to the bathroom door. He then makes it to his feet his right hand still clutching his throat. He tried to make it to his bedroom but as he stumbles towards the room, a shot rings out from one of Nika's handguns blowing out his kneecaps. With this, Grant attempted to scream but his voice was silenced and instead of scream, an odious gurgle came out and blood spewed everywhere. Grant fell and as he lay dying, Nika began to sing _All Through the Night. _Blood leaked from the wound and half-way through her song, Grant's body succumbed to death in her arms.

Nika, seeing him dead undressed from the security uniform and took up her own uniform and before leaving, went to Grant's room and took a an amber statuette of Ra. With this and the weapons blueprints in her possession, she packed her duffle bag with the bloody uniform, the statuette, and blueprints. Then with the contract done, she went to the elevator and when the doors open, she goes to underneath the camera and using her suit's security bypass piece, she rewinds the security footage by several seconds and thanks to this, when the elevator is called to a lower floor, she goes to the top of the cart again and when the elevator doors open, about six people come in. She then uses this to her advantage and drops silently down among them and soon, comes to the ground floor. She breathes a sigh of relief and then heads out for her drop spot.

The drop site was an old warehouse in the more industrial part of New York City and when she entered she saw six men. One of them asked, "Do you have the weapon schematics?"

"Yes," Nika replied, "Now, the rest of the payment."

"I'm sorry but I don't think your employer wants to dish out the remainder of your fee. So sorry. I hope you can take hollow-points as compensation." The men all drew their weapons and aimed. Nika launched into one of her conditioned responses and in four and a half seconds, had drawn and fired six shots from her guns. The men fell dead with bullets square between the eyes. Nika smiled and returned to her taxi and relaxed. She knew she'd have to pay Ms. Wahlgren a visit but then perhaps when her men's bodies are splashed all over the newspapers, she'd see her way of thinking.

The night was cold and as Nika lay down on her bed from her first contract, she thought, _"Well, Slade, you've taught me well. Always be prepared for a double cross and well…I was. So, I wonder what's on the news first in the morning? But ah well could be worse, I could have had to deal with the whole sniper team but luckily as with most security forces, they're so preoccupied with their coffee and cigarettes it's ridiculous." _She then turned out her light and went to sleep. 

**AN: Please read and review with both sides of what you feel. Criticism and praise please. Thank You. **


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